EUR/GBP slides further below 0.8300 mark, over one-month low post-ECB decision
- EUR/GBP turned lower for the fourth straight day and dropped to over a one-month low.
- The euro weakened a bit after the ECB decided to leave its policy settings unchanged.
- Rising bets for more BoE rate hikes underpinned the GBP and added to the selling bias.
The EUR/GBP cross edged lower and dropped to its lowest level since March 8, around the 0.8280 region after the European Central Bank announced its policy decision.
The shared currency weakened a bit after the ECB left its key policy rates unchanged and reaffirmed that rate hikes would only come sometime after APP purchases end in Q3. This might have disappointed some investors anticipating a more hawkish tilt amid the record-high inflation. This comes on the back of growing market worries about the potential economic fallout from the Ukraine crisis and exerted some downward pressure on the EUR/GBP cross.
On the other hand, the British pound remained well supported by Wednesday's hotter-than-expected UK CPI print, which raised bets for additional interest rate hikes by the Bank of England. This was seen as another factor that dragged the EUR/GBP cross lower for the fourth successive day. Meanwhile, acceptance below the 0.8300 round-figure mark might have already set the stage for an extension of the recent sharp retracement slide from the YTD peal.
Market participants now look forward to the post-meeting press conference, where comments by ECB President Christian Lagarde would influence the shared currency. Apart from this, the incoming geopolitical headlines should provide some impetus to the EUR/GBP cross and allow traders to grab some short-term opportunities.
Technical levels to watch